Singletrack

Key facts

Getting up

Pedal up

Surface

dirt, roots, rock

Bike types

MTB, eMTB

What it is

Riders go one after another, not side by side. Singletrack follows the ground — around trees, over roots and rocks, up and down — which is what makes it both harder and more fun than a forest road.

Riding it well

• Look through the turns to where you want to go, not at the tree beside you.
• Keep your pedals level through tight, rooty sections to avoid pedal strikes.
• Ride what is there: going around features widens the trail and wrecks it.

Trail manners

• Give way to walkers and horses, and slow down when you pass them.
• Do not skid: skidding digs ruts that water turns into gullies.
• Stay off soaked trails — the ground you save is the trail you ride next month.

Related articles

• Cross-country (XC) — Mountain biking as an endurance sport: as much up as down, on light and efficient bikes, where fitness wins races. The only mountain-bike discipline at the Olympic Games.
• Trail riding — The most common way to ride a mountain bike: loops that climb under your own power and descend the good stuff, on one bike that does a bit of everything.
• Pre-ride check — Five minutes before every ride that catch most mechanicals before they happen: tyres, brakes, axles, bars and the drivetrain, checked in one pass around the bike.
• Cornering — Getting round a turn fast and in control: brake before it, look through it, lean the bike more than your body and let the tyres do the gripping.
• Technical climbing — Getting up steep, rooty or rocky climbs without putting a foot down. It takes the right gear before the hard part, weight over the front and smooth, patient pedalling.
• Trail grades — How hard a trail is, told by colour: green, blue, red and black, orange for pro lines and purple for transfers. Every trail on the Bikeyard map is drawn in its grade.